NANHE RIVER BRIDGE BY WXY ARCHITECTURE

WXY has teamed up with Weidlinger Associates Inc., a prominent structural engineering firm, to design four landscape bridges in Xinjin County, China.

For the Nanhe River Landscape Bridge, the team’s winning design approach was to create a vision that evokes the flow of the river. Like a main path in a great park, the journey across the bridge should be an experience unto itself.

The undulating curves of the bridge reflect the waves of the river at the heart of Xinjin. The helical bridge is held up by five multi-limbed supports, increasing the current spacing for watercraft and other recreational uses of the river.

The two intertwined ribbons also serve a practical purpose by greatly expanding the capacity of the bridge to allow it to keep pace with Xinjin’s future growth.

For residents and visitors, the riverfront esplanades on both sides of the river provide important places to view and access the river. Springing seamlessly from these esplanades, the intertwined spans of the Nanhe River Landscape Bridge extend the park-like experience across the river itself.

The complex form of the bridge is derived from the linear extrusion of a simple steel box girder; its clear red color will resonate against the grey blue colors of Xinjin's hillside landscape.

The bridge design provides a strong iconic image while making an exciting space to walk and overlook Xinjin.

The sinuous curves of the Nanhe River Landscape Bridge emulate this body of water while simultaneously channeling the centuries-long tradition of Chinese landscape bridges. Thus a contemporary symbol of Xinjin is born that draws inspiration from the city's most timeless qualities.

Location: Xinjin County, China

Architect: WxyArchitecture + urban design

Structure: Weidlinger Associates Inc.

Year:2010

FESTINA LENTE BRIDGE BY ALAGIC, BOJAN KANLIC AND AMILA HRUSTIC

"Make haste, slowly," translates to Latin as Festina Lente. The phrase fits the design of a new bridge in Sarajevo spanning the Miljacka River.

Situated beside the Academy of Fine Arts, the bridge was designed by three former students: Adan Alagic, Bojan Kanlic, and Amila Hrustic. The loop-the-loop at center creates a shelter, and also offers a unique resting point in the city. 

The steel bridge is paved with aluminium plates and fitted with benches made of smooth round logs. At night the bridge is lit by LEDs.

“The basic idea of the bridge is the union of the secular and spiritual,” explain the designers, noting that the academy was formerly a church. ”The loop on the bridge is a symbolic gate,” they add.

Crossing the bridge is a unique experience because of its specific layout and the views that we encounter when going through the gate (the closed part of the bridge), preparing us to enter into another dimension and awake spirituality.

Technological solutions and the modern design of the bridge become the brand of Sarajevo. The bridge spans 38 metres. The bridge creates a true “genius loci” appropriate to the area in front of the temple as the Academy of Fine Arts.

The former church, today the Academy of Fine Arts, was built in the time of the Viennese secession. Its form is unique, simple and attractive at the same time and because of the unexpectedness triggers a series of associations, establishing a new vision.

The loop on the bridge is a symbolic gate – in our traditions, entrances in the cities have always been marked by gates. Line appears on most Secession facilities, among which is the Academy of Fine Arts.

Around the bridge we have different styles of facilities and two benches which are completely different, one covered with grass and another built from stone, which we decided on for visual contrast. On the bridge are two benches in covered sections, so it’s a place of meeting and interacting.

 

Location: Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Architects: Alagic, Bojan Kanlic And Amila Hrustic

Competition: 2007

Year: 2012

THE BRIDGE OF THE PEACE BY DE LUCCHI

It is located over the Mt’k’vari River (better known as turkish Kura) in Tbilisi, Georgia, and is designed for pedestrian use. The design of this bridge replicates a shape of a marine animal.

The Bridge of Peace provides a beautiful view of Narikala Fortress, Metekhi Church from one side and the Presidental Office and Baratashvili Bridge from the other.

The Bridge of Peace was designed by an Italian architect Michele De Lucchi, who had previously  designed the buildings of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Presidental Administration of Georgia.

The lighting design belongs to the French designer Philippe Martinaud. The Bridge was officially opened on May 06, 2010. It is 150 meters in length.

The structure of the bridge was built in Italy and transported to Tbilisi in 200 trucks while the lighting was installed on site during the assembly of the structures.

The bridge a design of which reminds of a marine animal has a curvy steel and glass canopy top which shimmers with an interactive light display at night, generated by thousands of white LEDs.

The roof is fitted with 1,208 custom LED fixtures designed and installed by the Dutch Primo Exposures and RENA Electronica companies, using 6,040 high-power LUXEON Rebel LEDs with 4,200K color temperature, supplied by Future Lighting Solutions.

The glass panels which run along the whole length of the walkway are embedded with linear low-power LED arrays.

The lighting is switched on 90 minutes before sunset illuminating Kura River below and buildings on both banks of the river.

“A bridge is a structure that joins two points, allowing people to get over an obstacle, and it is also a highly symbolic form of architecture in that it can be an emblem of dialogue between two opposite and divided positions” Michele De Lucchi.

INFINITY BRIDGE

Infinity Bridge is a pedestrian footbridge across the River Tees in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees in the north east of England.

 

The bridge links the Teesdale Business Park and the University of Durham’s Queen’s Campus with the Tees Valley Regeneration’s £320 million North Shore development on the north bank.

Built at a cost of £15 million, the bridge is a major part of the North Shore Redevelopment Project undertaken by Tees Valley Regeneration.

Bespoke acdc and Speirs + Major worked together to create a stunning lighting solution for the iconic structure. Along the surface of the bridge, light is programmed to respond to the presence of pedestrians, guiding them down the walkway with custom made, blue and white LED units concealed under the handrail.

Each unit uses a maximum of 3W for both colours or, as the light is either blue or white, closer to 1.5W for each unit and there are 200 units lighting the footbridge.

As pedestrians cross the bridge, sensors trigger a change from blue to white, leaving a ‘comet’s trail’ in the persons wake.

The engineering brief was for a prestigious and iconic landmark footbridge at North Shore Stockton and the finished structure is a dual, tied-arch or bowstring bridge.

Infinity Bridge has a pair of continuous structural steel arches with suspended precast concrete decking and one asymmetrically placed river pier.

The arches diverge to form a double rib over the pier and a reflex piece between the two arches holds them togetherto create one continuous curve.

At night from certain viewing angles the arches, together with their reflection in the river, appear as an infinity symbol and it is this effect that inspired the name.

Speaking about the lighting project, Iain Ruxton, Associate at Speirs + Major, Edinburgh commented: “As this was purely a pedestrian bridge, we wanted to create an effect that wasn’t static and would effectively bring the bridge to life – a solution that was far more creative than a pre-programmed kinetic effect. We set ourselves a difficult challenge with the unique lighting concept and all we had to do was find a partner who could deliver the right solution.”

“That was why we turned to acdc; they manufacture here in the UK and we were sure, from the relationship we have enjoyed with the company over the years, they would come up with the answer. acdc delivered a bespoke luminaire, used in conjunction with sensing electronics from Lee Engineering that fully answered the brief; creating a stunning but unusual lighting effect, which has had a fantastic response from the client and most importantly the people who use the bridge.”

No other bridge is known to have the same design, hence the reason why the project has gone on to win the Institution of Structural Engineers’ Supreme Award for Structural Excellence 2009, the premier structural engineering award in the UK.

The other awards the bridge has won include the Green Apple Award for the environment, the ICE Robert Stephenson Award 2009 and the North East Constructing Excellence Awards ‘Project of the Year’. Infinity Bridge won an RIBA award in 2010.

MIXED USE BRIDGE BY LAURENT SAINT VAL

In Amsterdam following the devastating fires of 1421 and 1452, it was forbidden to build with wood. In 1669, wooden construction was completely banned and only two examples are left standing.

Undoubtedly, a knowledge and an architecural wealth slumber in the heart of the true Amsterdammers, ready to wake and be materialized in modern projects.

It is with a strong motivation and a desire to pay homage to wood that I made the choice to use this modern material, ecological but also traditional and universal throughout centuries.

A material occupying a leading position with its qualities of sustainability, flexibility, adaptation to other materials, efficiency and finaly its esthetics.

Therefore, every project today and particularly in Amsterdam cannot ignore the use of wood for new structures or ornament.

Interior and exterior designs of this bridge are intended descriptive, while highlighting the natural material. Associated with steel and aluminium it gains enormous advantages, since these metals generate extremely light structures, representing a vital aspect regarding the soil’s quality.

Remarkable building material, steel can withstand heavy loads and can cover larger litters with smaller sections.

As for glass, it allows me to play with shapes with elegance and give way to my creativity. Large windows let in light and allow to have beautiful views of the outside ; not feeling trapped, able to blend with old or new constructions.

Enjoy light and make the best use of it while meeting safety requirements. The easy access for all of this gateway open on each bank should revitalize this neighborhood and create an attractive link for this museum, slowly linking visitors towards this place of “culture” while also being a place of exchanges between populations, of casual conversations, of relaxation, of escapes and walks for every age. Closer to the museum, on the first floor is the bike shop and on top a garden.

The garden accompanies man in all civilizations and does not start its history in a house. Space giving free rein to imagination, space for reflection and meditation, a sort of passive confrontation between mortals and continuous rebirth of nature. The philosopher Foucault saw in the garden a “space of located utopia”.

Today, especially in this town, we talk more and more about bicycle as a gentle mean of transportation and an alternative to automobile for commuting. This characteristic primarily applies itself in urban areas. On the other bank a cozy cafe and its restaurant at the top level should in my opinion attract customers wishing of meetings and make these moments exceptional. To me, it seemed that a strong idea is a form of enchantment through the building and to what it can bring inside or from the outside.

This gateway strong of its own identity, its European and contemporary character would be a welcoming site for all, a place of openness for today and tomorrow’s world with men and women that travel more and more, that became experts and can compare, that want excellence and should be seduce all the time.